The Valleys of the Assassins
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The Valleys of the Assassins
Freya Stark
Travel & Adventure
James Mustich
Jul 31, 2018
Freya Stark, who died in 1993 having lived a hundred years, journeyed where few European men had dared to go—through North Africa, the Levant, Turkey, Persia, Syria, Anatolia, and Kurdistan. She exemplified the bravery, stubbornness, and literary sensibility that characterized the intrepid English traveler. She dismayed friends and family by setting out in 1927 on the trip that was to become the basis for The Valleys of the Assassins. In addition to wanting to see an uncharted valley on the border of Iraq and Iran, she was in search of the legendary lost fortress of the Lords of Alamut, a band of hashish-fueled assassins that Marco Polo had described in his own Travels. Stark had not intended to write a book about her exploits, but upon her return, her mother typed up the diaries she had kept and insisted she rewrite them for publication. Displaying her wise purchase on place, history, and people, The Valley of the Assassins is permeated with Stark’s authorial genius—aphoristic, vigilant, exquisitely well mannered—that would articulate the heart and mind of the traveler in many subsequent books.
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Bill Vamvas
Sep 16, 2020
Fascinating personal bravery & journey to a vastly different world
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Mariella Rinaldi
Feb 12, 2022
Beautiful. Glad to have read it!
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